St. George, Utah
|blank1_name = GNIS feature ID |blank1_info = 1455098 |footnotes = }} St. George is a city located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Utah on the Utah/Arizona border, and the county seat of Washington County, Utah. It is the principal city of and is included in the St. George, Utah, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is 119 miles (192 km) northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and 303 miles (488 km) south of Salt Lake City on Interstate 15. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, St. George had a population of 72,897. From 1990, St. George became the second fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States, only after Greeley, Colorado in 2005. This trend continued through 2007, when growth slowed substantially.Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places in Utah: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009 In 2009, the metropolitan area (defined as Washington County) had an estimated 137,473 residents.Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009 St. George is the population and commercial hub of southern Utah and Utah's Dixie, a nickname given to the area when Mormon pioneers grew cotton in the warm climate. History in St. George]] St. George was founded as a cotton mission in 1861 under the direction of Brigham Young, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons or LDS Church)— part of a greater church effort to become self-sufficient. While the early settlers did manage to grow cotton, it was never produced at competitive market rates; consequently, cotton farming was eventually abandoned. At the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Brigham Young organized the settlement of what is now Washington County, Utah. Fearing that the war would take away the cotton supply, he began plans for raising enough in this western country to supply the needs of his people. Enough favorable reports had come to him from this warm country below the rim of the Great Basin, that he was convinced cotton could be raised successfully here. At the general church conference in Salt Lake City on October 6th, 1861, about three hundred families were “called" to the Dixie mission to promote the cotton industry. Most of the people knew nothing of this expedition until their names were read from the pulpit; but in nearly every case, they responded with good will, and made ready to leave within the month’s time allotted to them. The families were selected so as to ensure the communities the right number of farmers, masons, blacksmiths, businessmen, educators, carpenters, as needed.Under Dixie Sun, 1950, Washington County Chapter, Daughters Utah Pioneers, pp 293–294. Printed by Garfield County News, Panguitch Utah. The settlement was named after George A. Smith, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Lynn Arave, "St. George likely named after an LDS apostle", Deseret Morning News, July 8, 2007. In April 1877, the LDS Church completed the St. George Utah Temple. It is the Church's third temple, and, currently, its longest continually operating temple. The pioneers planted mulberry trees throughout the valley to be used to feed the silkworms that they used to produce silk. The last line of these trees exist on Pomegranate Way in Bloomington. St. George was the location of the 1997 United States Academic Decathlon national finals.United States Academic Decathlon National Championship Nuclear contamination On May 19, 1953, the United States government detonated the 32-kiloton (130 TJ) atomic bomb (nicknamed "Harry") at the Nevada Test Site. The bomb later gained the name "Dirty Harry" because of the tremendous amount of off-site fallout generated by the bomb. Winds carried fallout 135 miles (220 km) to St. George, where residents reported "an oddly metallic sort of taste in the air." The Howard Hughes motion picture, The Conqueror, was being filmed in the area of St. George at the time of the detonation. The fallout is often blamed for the unusually high percentage of cancer deaths among the cast and crew. St. George received the brunt of the fallout of above-ground nuclear testing in the Yucca Flats/Nevada Test Site northwest of Las Vegas. Winds routinely carried the fallout of these tests directly through St. George and southern Utah. Marked increases in cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, bone cancer, brain tumors, and gastrointestinal tract cancers were reported from the mid-1950s through 1980. A 1962 United States Atomic Energy Commission report found that "children living in St. George, Utah may have received doses to the thyroid of radioiodine as high as 120 to 440 rads" (1.2 to 4.4 Gy).Pat Ortmeyer and Arjun Makhijani. "Let Them Drink Milk," The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, November/December 1997, via IEER. Retrieved October 31, 2007. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 64.9 square miles (168.0 km²), of which, 64.4 square miles (166.8 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.2 km²) of it (0.72%) is water. St. George lies in a dry desert valley of typical desert vegetation in the northeastern Mojave Desert, with most of the city lying below 3,000 feet (900 m). Situated near a geologically unique area where the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and Mojave Desert all converge. The Beaver Dam Mountains/Utah Hill with broad vistas of joshua tree forests lie to the west, Pine Valley Mountains to the north, the Colorado Plateau/Zion National Park to the east and the Arizona Strip to the south. The Virgin River, originating in the Kolob Mountains, and Santa Clara River, originating in the Pine Valley Mountains, flow through the city and confluence south of downtown near Webb Hill and beneath what is now the Dixie Drive interchange of I-15. Black lava covered plateaus in the center of the valley naturally divide downtown from the east and west sides of the city. Red sandstone bluffs make up the natural northern boundary which is also where a preserved desert habitat, the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve lies. Snow Canyon State Park borders the northwest quadrant of the city. In early 2005, severe flooding occurred within the above named rivers. One person was killed and several houses were destroyed by the raging Santa Clara River. The city borders the northern Arizona state line, and is located between its suburbs of Santa Clara and Ivins to the west and Washington and Hurricane to the east. Geology In Southwestern Utah, soil and rock formations are red in appearance due to the presence of iron oxide.The Geology of Snow Canyon State Park , United States Geological Survey, page 7 Although portions of the older section of the city (particularly the southern part near the Virgin River) lie on floodplain alluvium, much of St. George is built directly upon Jurassic, Triassic, and Permian period sedimentary bedrock. The following formations—listed in chronological order—can be found within the city limits. Kaibab Limestone (Permian): Grey fossiliferious limestone, exposed at the center of the Virgin River anticline along Horseman Park Drive and in the low hills to the south of South Bloomington Hills. Moenkopi Formation (Triassic): Chocolatey-red and white banded mudstone, shale, limestone, and siltstone containing thick layers of gypsum, exposed at Bloomington, South Bloomington Hills, and the south side of Webb Hill. Shinarump Conglomerate (Triassic): Yellow to brown cliff-forming sandstone and conglomerate containing fossilized oyster shells and petrified wood. Forms the cliff faces north of Bloomington, on Webb Hill, and along the Virgin River south of 1450 South Street. This is actually the lowest member of the Chinle formation. Chinle Formation (Triassic): Purple, white, grey and locally green bentonitic shale weathering to clay. Because of the softness of the strata, structures built on this formation run a higher risk of settling or slippage. The Chinle formation underlies large portions of St. George, including North Bloomington Hills, much of Green Valley, and much of the east part of the city around Riverside Drive and Pine View High School. footprint in the Lower Jurassic Moenave Formation at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm, southwestern Utah.]] Moenave Formation (Jurassic): Red and orange sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone. There is some confusion about distinguishing between the Springdale sandstone member of the Moenave formation and the overlying Navajo sandstone, which is similar in appearance, in the St. George area. It is now generally assumed that the red cliffs to the north of the old part of the city (north of Red Hills Parkway) and at the Dixie Red Hills golf course are part of the Moenave formation. Other exposures include cuts into the east and west Black Hills and the southern part of Dixie Downs. Kayenta Formation (Jurassic): Red, orange, and purple sandstone, shale, and mudstone. Forms slopes below the massive Navajo sandstone in the northern part of the city including northern Dixie Downs and along Snow Canyon Parkway. Navajo Sandstone (Jurassic): Grey to brown, red, and (in its upper layers) white massive sandstone. Forms cliff faces above Snow Canyon Parkway and white outcrops at Winchester Hills. Basaltic lava flows from the Quaternary period form the black ridges to the east and west of the old part of St. George city. The volcanic eruptions producing these flows are thought to date back 1.2 million years. Other points of geologic interest include the Virgin River anticline; the rock has eroded away in the center leaving shear walls surrounding the "Purgatory Flats" area to the east of St. George. Another geologic feature is Pine Valley Mountain, composed of one solid piece of granite, it is one of the largest laccoliths in the world. Climate Due to the city's low elevation and southerly location, St. George is the warmest part of the state and has a subtropical arid climate (Koppen BWk), with maximum daily July temperatures averaging about 102 °F (39 °C). The hottest temperature ever recorded in Utah, 118 °F (48 °C), was recorded in a remote area south of St. George proper, near the Arizona border, on July 4, 2007. The high-temperature record in Utah before that was 117 °F (47 °C), recorded in St. George itself on July 5, 1985. The record high minimum temperature (a.k.a. the record warm low temperature) is 89 °F (32 °C), set on July 15, 1970. Temperatures frequently drop below freezing overnight in December and January (due to radiational cooling resulting from low humidity), but temperatures warm into the 50s°F (low 10s°C) during the day. Both the record low temperature of -11 °F (-24 °C) and record low maximum (a.k.a. cold high) temperature of 17 °F (-8 °C) were set on January 22, 1937. The city averages 8.25 inches (210 mm) of precipitation annually. Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, except for a dry period from late April through June (after the Pacific storm season but before the monsoon). Precipitation mostly comes from the Pacific Ocean from late fall through early spring. The storm track usually lifts north of the city by mid-April. The summer monsoon from the Gulf of California can bring localized but often intense thunderstorms from mid-July through mid-September. One such storm dropped the record single day precipitation in the city, with 2.39 in (61 mm) on August 31, 1909. Snow is rare, averaging 3.2 inches (8.1 cm) annually. It has been recorded as early as October 29 (in 1971) and as late as April 11 (in 1927). The record single day snowfall is 10.0 in (25.4 cm), set on January 5, 1974. Retrieved on November 22, 2011. |date=November 2011 }} Government and infrastructure The St. George city government is organized under a council-manager form of government. As of February, 2013, the mayor is Daniel D. McArthur, City Manager is Gary Esplin, Assistant City Manager is Marc M. Morensen, and council members are Gil Almquist, Gail Bunker, Jimmy Hughes, Benjamin Nickle, and Jon Pike. City Council meetings are held on the first and third Thursdays of each month at the City Council Chambers.http://www.sgcity.org The U.S. Federal Courthouse, Washington County Justice Court, and Fifth District Courthouse are located downtown. Healthcare Dixie Regional Medical Center is an Intermountain Health Care hospital offering Basic Emergency Services for St. George and vicinity as of 2013.http://www.intermountainhealthcare.org/hospitals/dixie/pages/home/aspx Utilities St. George is served by City of St. George Utilities, which serves most of the city, and Dixie Escalante Electric, which serves the southern neighborhoods of the city. Rocky Mountain Power serves parts of the greater St. George area. Arts and Culture St. George is home to several museums and art galleries, including the St. George Art Museum,www.stgeorgechamber.com"/arts-entertainment the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum,http://www.rosenbruch.com and the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site.http://www.dinosite.org Coyote Gulch Art Village is in nearby Ivins. The city is home to the Southwest Symphony Orchestra and Southern Utah Heritage Choir.http://stgeorgechamber.com/arts-entertainment The St. George Arts Festival occurs each Spring, and the city sponsors an Art in the Park and a Concerts in the Park series offering a variety of music and bands at Vernon Worthen Park each summer season. Dixie State University features the Celebrity Concert Series and O.C. Tanner Amphitheater. The Huntsman World Senior Games and St. George Marathon, the 13th largest marathon in the country, are annual events attracting thousands in October. The St. George Ironman Triathlon and the Fall Fuel Fest featuring Nitro Circus are newer annual events. The Washington County Fair is held each August in the County Regional Park just east of the city. The St. George Parade of Homes showcases the area's high-end homes and architectural features each February. St. George is home to the St. George Opera House. The Dixie Convention Center, the city's largest venue, hosts concerts, meetings, and events such as The Spring Home and Garden Expo and the Dixie Regional Transportation Expo. An older historic venue offering a local music scene is The Electric Theater located on historic Tabernacle Street. Tuacahn Amphitheater features shows and concerts through-out the season in an outdoor setting backed by the red cliff walls of Snow Canyonhttp://www.tuacahn.org Economy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was completed in 1877.]] SkyWest Airlines is headquartered in St. George, and is the primary airline provider at the city's municipal airport. The Washington County School District main offices are based in the city. The Cafe Rio restaurant chain was started in St. George in 1997. A large part of the local economy comes from tourism, since St. George is in proximity to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Grand Canyon National Park as well as several state parks and recreational areas. Shopping Major shopping areas in St. George include: *Red Cliffs Mall, the only enclosed shopping mall in Utah outside of the Wasatch Front, includes over forty national retailers, restaurants and a movie theater. *The Factory Outlets at Zion, an open-air outlet mall with a variety of retail and restaurants. *Rim Rock Plaza, offering dining and other mixed retail. *Red Rock Commons *CottonMill Shopping Center Transportation St. George is on the I-15 corridor, south of the western terminus of Interstate 70. It has access to Interstate 10 and Interstate 40 via U.S. Route 93 to Phoenix, southwest. Utah State Route 7 is a partially constructed freeway, with a seven mile spur connecting I-15 to the city's airport, which will one day be a high-speed beltway circling the metropolitan area. The city took on major road and highway construction projects between 2010 and 2012, making it the busiest period of road infrastructure construction in the city's history. Projects included the completion of the Dixie Drive single point urban interchange at I-15, exit 5 for better access to the nearby convention center and improved east-west mobility for the fast growing south and west sides of the valley. Leading up to the completion of the interchange, a network of arterial roads including Dixie Drive, sections of Riverside Drive and Red Hills Parkway all creating a belt-like loop around the city, had all been widened to a minimum of four lanes as well as raised speed limits and signaled intersections in places.www.thespectrum.comwww.stgnews.com St. George has no rail service. The Union Pacific line between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas is about north and west of the city. The St. George Municipal Airport opened in January 2011 at a cost of approximately $175 million. Currently, the city is served with daily jet service to Salt Lake City and Los Angeles.Deseret News - Ground is broken for new St. George airport. Nancy Perkins, Deseret Morning News. October 20, 2008. SunTran is St. George's public transportation system. It operates multiple bus routes in the city. Religion The history of St. George is strongly connected with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. St. George was originally settled by Mormon pioneers, and the name eventually bequeathed to it came from early Mormon leader George A. Smith. The St. George Utah Temple is the longest-continually operating Mormon temple. Although in St. George both Catholic and Protestant denominations are well represented, the majority of the population belongs to the LDS faith (about 78% using 1990 statistics). Sports The St. George community has been the home to two minor-league independent baseball teams. The first, the St. George Pioneerzz (originally the Zion Pioneerzz), played in the independent Western Baseball League from 1999 to 2001, winning the league championship in 2000. A new franchise, managed by former major league player Darell Evans, was awarded to Utah's Dixie in 2007. The team, the St. George Roadrunners, played in the independent Golden Baseball League before being taken over by the league and moved to Henderson, Nevada in 2010. The city's four high schools (Dixie, Desert Hills, Pine View, and Snow Canyon) play in 3A state competition. Dixie State University participates in the NCAA Division II Pacific West Conference. Some famous DSU athletes are Corey Dillon, Anton Palepoi, Reno Mahe, and Scott Brumfield, who all played in the NFL. Marcus Banks, Lionel Hollins, Keon Clark, and Mo Baker are Dixie players who played in the NBA, and former Rebels Bradley Thompson and Brandon Lyon currently play in the major leagues. Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bruce Hurst played at Dixie High School, and later managed the now defunct Zion Pioneerzz in its inaugural season (1999). Parks and Recreation St. George is home to many parks, golf courses and recreation areas, as well as over 65 miles of urban walking/biking trails.http://www.sgcity.org/parks/trails/info.php Notable parks and sites include the Canyons Softball Complex; Little Valley Softball Complex; Tonaquint Nature Center featuring the Washington County Water Conservancy District Demonstration Garden; St. George Motocross Park a.k.a. SGMX, a motocross track for regional motocross races and derbys.http://www.stgeorgemx.com/ The Washington County Regional Park and fairgrounds is east of the city. The St. George area has several recreation centers; the St. George Rec Center; Washington City Rec Center and the Sand Hollow Aquatics Center, an indoor swimming facility.www.sgcity/recreation/facilities/rec_center/shac.phpwww.washingtoncity.org/communitycenter/ The city also has several dog parks, splash pads, urban fishing ponds and two skateparks. Media Radio Newspapers The Spectrum, which is owned by Gannett, is the local, daily newspaper. The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret Morning News, and Las Vegas Review-Journal / Las Vegas Sun are also heavily distributed in St. George and offer home delivery. St. George News (stgnews.com), is an online newspaper focusing on news in St. George and the region, but also offering national and world news, went online in September 2010. Television St. George has local television station, KCSG Channel 14, a MeTV affiliate, which broadcasts local news at 7:00PM and 9:00PM. The city receives local TV channels from Salt Lake City with broadcast translators in the St George area. The Las Vegas NBC affiliate, KSNV-DT has a local translator owned by Cherry Creek Radio, KVBT-LP channel 41, on which some of its programming airs two hours later than the same programming broadcast on Salt Lake City NBC affiliate KSL-TV. Education St. George is home to Dixie State Universityhttp://dixie.edu/, a four-year institution, of about 9,000 students (as of 2012), and Dixie Applied Technology College. In addition to the colleges, the city is also home to the College Education Centers of University of Phoenix and lesser known Stevens-Henager College. ]] The city of St. George is a part of the Washington County School District. St. George has 23 public schools, four of which are high schools: Dixie High School, Pine View High School, Desert Hills High School, and Snow Canyon High School, as well as Millcreek Alternative High School. The city has four middle schools, three intermediate schools and numerous elementary schools. Neighboring Ivins is home to Utah's first charter high school, Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts, which provides an alternative education with no tuition costs to any Utah resident. Demographics }} As of 2011 the city population was estimated at 74,770. Many of these new residents are retirees who moved to the area because of the mild winters. In September 2005, St. George was declared the second fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States.St. George growth 2nd fastest in U.S.. Deborah Bulkeley, Deseret Morning News.Colorado’s Greeley, Florida’s Palm Coast, Fastest-Growing Metro and Micro Areas . U.S. Census Bureau News. As of the 2000 census , there were 49,663 people, 17,367 households, and 13,042 families residing in the city. The population density was 771.2 people per square mile (297.7/km²). There were 21,083 housing units at an average density of 327.4 per square mile (126.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.27% White, 0.24% African-American, 1.64% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.59% Pacific Islander, 2.87% from other races, and 1.83% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.72% of the population. There were 17,367 households out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.6% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years old or older. The average household size was 2.81 individuals and the average family size was 3.21. In the city the age distribution of the population shows 28.4% under the age of 18, 13.7% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $36,505, and the median income for a family was $41,788. Males had a median income of $31,106 versus $20,861 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,022. About 7.4% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and 4.4% of those age 65 or over. Notable people *Juanita Brooks, Mormon writer, editor and historian *Julius Erving, former NBA star *Jeffrey R. Holland, LDS general authorityBiography *Bruce Hurst, former Major League Baseball pitcherBiography *Asia Carrera, adult film starCounty property record *Doug Jolley, NFL tight endBiography NFL Players Association (NFLPlayers.com) *Tracy Hickman, fantasy author *Jay Don Blake, NCAA golfer Washington County Document Search *LaVell Edwards, former BYU football coach Washington County Document Search *Dia Frampton, Runner-up in the inaugural season of The Voice *John "Cat" Thompson (1906–1990) - basketball player; member of the Basketball Hall of Fame *Bruce Hurst (b. 1958) - MLB baseball pitcher (All-Star - Boston Red Sox 1987) *Amanda Righetti (b. 1983) - actress (The OC, Reunion, The Mentalist) *Robert Adamson (b. 1985) - actor (Lincoln Heights) *Meg and Dia - singing group *J. Edwin Seegmiller (1923-1986) - physician and medical researcher, member of the National Academy of Sciences, faculty member at the UCSD Medical School Popular culture Some movies that were filmed in St. George: * The Conqueror * Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid * The Car * ''Harry's War * ''The Electric Horseman * Jeremiah Johnson * Romancing the Stone * High School Musical 2 * The Flyboys * Jurassic Park * On Our Own * The city was mentioned briefly in the Fred Savage film, The Wizard (1989). * The city was mentioned in the season three premiere of Breaking Bad as the city from where one of the flights involved the mid-air collision was being operated. References External links * City of St. George official website * St. George Area Chamber of Commerce * * Spectrum Newspaper Local Newspaper * St. George News free online newspaper Category:St. George, Utah Category:Cities in Utah Category:County seats in Utah Category:Cities in the Mojave Desert Category:Established in 1861 Category:Pleistocene volcanism